Neobank moneyHOP, Peppermint, Altius Investech, Codingal get funds

By Anuj Suvarna

  • 01 Sep 2021
Credit: 123RF.com

moneyHOP, a cross border-neobank based in the UK, has raised $1.25 million in a seed round from UK-based investors and managing directors from various investment banks.  

The company will use funds to strengthen its team, pursue growth targets, venture into the cross-border MSME payment space and expand its international presence.  

“This funding will fuel our mission of providing businesses and individuals with a unified platform that makes international payments and remittances paperless, presence-less, and cashless while also being cost-effective.

We are excited to relentlessly pursue our aim to revolutionize cross-border banking for millennials and businesses in India and globally,” Mayank Goyal, CEO and founder, moneyHOP, said.

Founded in 2019, moneyHOP offers HOPRemit platform which helps customers to send money abroad. The firm said it has seen 100% month-on-month growth since its launch.  

Peppermint, a Pune-based industrial robot manufacturing startup, has raised Rs 5 crore ( approximately $ 690,000) in a new financing round from Venture Catalysts and Indian Angel Network.  

The round also saw participation from Vinners Group and a group of angel investors led by Naveen Kumar Kshatriya.  

The capital will be used to enhance the production facility and ramp up its production capacity, a part of the funds will be allocated towards R&D.

The firm will also scale its business in India and the middle east.   

Founded by Runal Dahiwade and Miraj C Vora, Peppermint builds an industrial floor-cleaning robot that leverages a combination of physical scrubbing, chemicals and ultra-violet light to facilitate seamless cleaning of floors.  

“We have the first-mover advantage in the commercial robotics space in India and our robots have been tested and deployed in various sectors including pharmaceuticals, logistics, manufacturing and hospitality,” Runal Dahiwade – CEO and founder, Peppermint, said.

He added “We are looking at aggressive growth and we have our eyes set on the European market as well.

The latest investment asserts investor confidence in our value proposition and our growth potential.”  

Altius Investech, a Kolkata-based fintech startup, has raised Rs 6 crore ( approximately $821, 000) from close associates, professionals and marquee investors.  

The company will use funds to invest in technology, increase working capital and expand its presence in various Indian cities and abroad.   
The new round of funding will bring the firm’s valuation at a post-money enterprise value of Rs 51 crore.  

The firm said it will launch a platform that will enable investors to trade in pre-IPO, unlisted, equities.   

"India startup ecosystem is at an inflection point with more than 10 startups already in the process of an IPO and the next 100 in the pipeline.

Our platform will serve as a sounding board for companies to get investors in the secondary space, giving exits to ESOP holders and angel investors,” Abhishek Ginodia, director, Altius, said.

Codingal, an edtech platform focused on K-12 students, has raised $1.2 million in its latest seed funding round led by Y Combinator, Summer Capital, Day One Syndicate and Rebright Partners.

The round also saw participation from Nate Lipscomb, senior product counsel, Youtube; Ganesh Rengaswamy, managing partner, Quona Capital and Peter Weck, co-founder, Simply Hired and StoryJumper.

The company said it will use the funds to develop its proprietary platform for an improved and personalised learning experience.

It also aims to add 500,000 new students to its platform in a year.

Codingal has grown 30% month-on-month since its launch and generates over 20% revenue from international customers.

The startup said it had partnered with educational institutions and technology companies to host coding competitions and promote coding culture among school students.

The platform's partners include the likes of Hewlett Packard, IIT Roorkee, IIT Guwahati, BITS Pilani, DPS, among others.